Ryedale Table Tennis League

2008 Closed Tournament

The 2008 RTTL Closed Tournament took place on Sunday 13th April at Northern Ryedale Leisure Centre, Pickering. It was a great day, superbly organised by Paul Stansfield, and looked impressive with 11 tables filling the large hall.

Results (note, the doubles was not finished and will be completed at a later date)

Division 1 - Main Event: Winner - Ed Fambely, Runner Up - Joel Wright

Division 1 - Plate: Winner - Neil Raine, Runner Up - Gareth Olney

Division 2 - Main Event: Winner - Chris Londesborough, Runner Up - Jan Bryan

Division 2 - Plate: Winner Gerald Cosens, Runner Up - Roger Wang

Division 3 - Main Event: Winner - Adam Ridley, Runner Up - Mick Carter

Division 3 - Plate: Winner - Nick Knight, Runner Up - Stuart Ellis

Handicap - Winner - Cliff Edens, Runner Up - Stephen Temple

Drawn Doubles - Winners - Ed Famberly & Steve Miller, Runners Up - Ruth Purseglove & Katharina Heinrich

(Note, the doubles was not finished and will be completed at a later date)

An excellent turnout and a venue just a little more spacious than Brooklyn

Mick Carter takes on Chris Londesbrough in the handicap singles

Barry Todd and Katharina Heinrich in reflective mood

Neil Raine, Gareth Olney, Paul Young, John Eastwood

The Div 1 Singles final: Joel Wright serving to the eventual winner, Ed Fambely

The Div 3 Final: winner Adam Ridley takes on Mick Carter

[apologies that my shots of the Div 2 final didn't come out well]

Mary Chappell goes for a big serve, partnering husband Andrew against Richard Brown and Alan Kirkwood

Neil Raine and the extremely quiet Gareth Olney couldn't find a seat

Tournament mastermind Paul Stansfield keeps everything running smoothly

Steve Miller & Mary Chappell

Selected Doubles: Gerald Cosens and Cliff Edens face up to Ken Pidgeon and John Gascoyne

An exciting warm up between Thomas Thorp, Kenny Brown, Nick Knight and Kris Waluk

Caped Div 3 Superhero Steve Temple seeks sustenance

Tournament report from Cliff Edens:

The eagerly awaited Closed Tournament took place on Sunday in the Northern Ryedale Leisure Centre. Seeing a hall full of 11 tables is a pleasing sight for Table Tennis enthusiasts and the Leisure Centre was a perfect venue. Organiser, Paul Stansfield, and his son, James did an excellent job in coordinating the 6 events held over one day, the first time this had taken place.

Over 50 players attended and the hall was buzzing as the event got underway at 9.30am . Top of the Averages for Division 1, Ian Stansfield had a shaky start against his team mate from Amotherby, John Gascoyne, winning the match by the narrowest of margins. In the rest of the Division 1 event, all of the top seeds moved through with relative ease. In the semi finals, number 1 seed, Ed Fambely met the experienced John Flintoft, the player who ruined Ed’s 100% record in the season. However, the Fambely Forehand was on song and Ed moved into the final, 3-1.

In the other semi, Joel Wright met Ian Stansfield. Joel is one of the most dedicated players in the League and his training paid off as he won 3-1 to reach his second final. In a repeat of last years final, Ed opened up a lead using startling backhand counter drives to force Joel away from the table. The Ormesby British League Division 1 player then used his excellent forehand to complete the point, beating Joel 3-0 to take the title for the second year.

In Division 2, there were some notable performances in the early rounds and one which deserves a mention is Katharina Heinrich’s win over Kenny Brown. The final was also a match where revenge was on the menu. Chris Londesbrough lost the averages for Division 2 when Jan Bryan beat him comfortably in the League match. Now they faced each other in the final and Chris was in the mood for winning. He won the final using his spinny forehand and backhand attacks that, on this occasion, Jan struggled with.

In Division 3, the best semi final seen, and the longest, took place between Stephen Temple aged 13 and his grandfather, M ick Carter, a sprightly 71 years old. Either side of their table, matches started and finished but this epic went on and on. In a battle of minds and tactics, M ick edged the final game 11-5 to win through to the final. M ick’s comment at the end of the match was that it was probably the last time he will beat the rapidly improving Stephen. In the final, M ick met Adam Ridley . In the League, they had won one each against each other but on this occasion, Adam had his sensible head on and out played the veteran to win 3-0 and take the title.

In the Handicap Competition, 46 players entered the event which can see the top seeds of Division 1 fall to Division 3 beginners. And they did. In the semi final, Stephen Temple (+15) met Ed Fambely (-18). Stephen played calmly to block some of Ed’s power drives and won the match by 4 points to get to the final. In the other half of the draw, Cliff Edens (-15), in last season in Ryedale, ground out points using his spin serves and heavy topspin drives to get through to the final. Those serves helped him to victory against Stephen as he won by 3 points in an intense final.

The last final of the main events was the selected doubles where a higher ranked player is partnered by a lower ranked player. The finalists were Katharina Heinrich and Ruth Purseglove against Ed Fambely and Steve M iller. The combination of Steve’s blocking game and Ed’s persistent attack gave them the match in very close fought affair. This leaves the main doubles event which will be completed at Ryedale Sports Club soon.

The consolation plate finals were also great to watch. Neil Raine from Scarborough beat his team mate Gareth Olney for the Division 1 Plate. Gerald Cosens , the former event organiser, beat Roger Wang in the Division 2 plate event and Nick Knight beat Stuart Ellis for the Division 3 plate.

It was a great day for Helmsley Table Tennis Club who won all of the M ain event titles. M issing from the Tournament was Helmsley C’s James and Howard M ayne . James, aged 12, was representing Yorkshire in the National Regional Finals. With some fantastic play, James won through his group to the last 8. He then lost narrowly to the England number 3, Azarel Adebanjo. This is a fantastic achievement for the Ryedale School boy who has a great future in Table Tennis.